After surgery Sunday, Barrett should play Saturday

Thursday

Nov 30, 2017 at 5:14 PMNov 30, 2017 at 5:20 PM

By Tim MayGateHouse Media Ohio

It has been an eventful week for Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett.

The fifth-year senior is expected to be ready to play in Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin despite undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Sunday to relieve the problem that knocked him out of the win at Michigan last week, sources told The Dispatch.

Then, on Thursday, he was named the Big Ten’s quarterback of the year for a record third time.

An Ohio State team spokesman would not confirm the report about the surgery Thursday.

OSU coach Urban Meyer did not mention the surgery in his Monday news conference, but on Thursday on his weekly radio show he said Barrett is ready to go.

“He’s been cleared to play so he’s going to play in the game,” Meyer said on 97.1 The Fan. “He’ll practice today and be ready to go.”

Meyer did not indicate whether Barrett would start against Wisconsin. He had said earlier this week that practice would feature more of Dwayne Haskins Jr., who replaced Barrett with the Buckeyes trailing by six points late in the third quarter at Michigan and led them to a 31-20 victory. Third-teamer Joe Burrow also reportedly saw more action as Barrett worked on the side.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson told reporters after practice Tuesday that Barrett had looked good in his limited time that day. He also practiced Wednesday.

“He actually does look good,” a source told The Dispatch.

Barrett said the problem with his right knee, believed to be a torn piece of meniscus (cartilage in the knee joint) that occasionally floats out of place and causes the knee to lock, first surfaced before the season opener at Indiana. It was able to be massaged back into place and he was able to play that night, and reportedly had not suffered another such occurrence until Saturday.

But while warming up behind the bench area in Michigan Stadium after the opening kickoff, a person believed to be a credentialed photographer bumped into Barrett and caused his knee to twist awkwardly. Barrett went down, but the training and medical staff were able to coax the meniscus back into position and he played for almost three quarters with no problem.

Late in the third quarter on a run to his left, however, his knee twisted awkwardly during what looked to be a routine tackle. This time there was no quick fix, even after he was taken to the locker room for treatment.

Program sources said the decision was made to rectify the situation surgically rather than risk another occurrence in the Big Ten title game and that, barring complications, he would be able to answer the bell Saturday night.

In winning the Big Ten’s Griese-Brees award — named after former Purdue quarterbacks Bob Griese and Drew Brees — Barrett became the fifth Ohio State QB to capture the award in its seven years. Braxton Miller won in 2012 and ’13.

Barrett won it in 2014 when, as a redshirt freshman, he also was named the Big Ten freshman of the year after setting a conference record by accounting for 45 touchdowns (running or passing). He also won it last year.

He now holds 36 conference and/or OSU records, which includes pushing the Big Ten career TDs record to 142 with at least two games to play, leaving Brees’ previous record of 106 way behind. Barrett has passed for 2,728 yards and 33 touchdowns this season, and rushed for 672 yards and nine TDs.

Last week Barrett became the first OSU quarterback in history to start four wins over rival Michigan.

Interestingly, the last time OSU made the Big Ten championship game in 2014, Barrett had suffered a broken ankle on the first play of the fourth quarter of the win over Michigan. He was replaced by Cardale Jones who went on to lead the Buckeyes to a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin, and then to the first College Football Playoff title with victories over Alabama and Oregon.